It is usual practice in supermarkets for the customer to serve himself from the stocked shelves of merchandise, and it is also the practice in such supermarkets to furnish shopping carts for use by the customer while making his selections and for carrying the selections to the check-out counter. Where automobile parking areas are provided, the customer is usually permitted to wheel the shopping cart beyond the check-out counter to his parked automobile in order that he may conveniently transfer his purchases from the cart to the automobile. It has been found that an appreciable number of customers residing within walking distance of the supermarket often wheel the shopping carts to their homes. The carts are then carelessly abandoned by the customer as a usual practice. This has resulted in large and continuing loss to the market of expensive shopping carts, and it is the principal objective of this invention to minimize such losses without straining customer relationships.
The foregoing is achieved by providing a low boundary around the parking area adjacent to the supermarket. The low boundary does not impose any barrier to normal automobile and pedestrian traffic, and it is in no way dangerous, nor is it expensive to construct. The customer is free to wheel the shopping cart anywhere within the market, and anywhere within the parking area. However, any attempt to remove the shopping cart from the parking area causes the aforementioned roller to roll up the barrier and release the spring-loaded plunger so that the cart is immediately locked, and can no longer be moved. Even if a customer attempts to lift the cart over the barrier, the plunger is released and the cart is locked.
An advantage of the locking assembly of the invention is that it can be readily and conveniently installed in existing shopping carts. Another advantage is the fact that the mechanism is simple in its construction, and can be readily manufactured at a minimum cost. The assembly also exhibits low maintenance requirements; normal maintenance requiring, for example, a few drops of oil every two or three months. Yet another advantage is the fact that the assembly of the invention, once tripped, can be readily reset with the proper key to its normal position by an authorized employee.